Prince of Whirlpool Country
by LupineKing
Summary: Naruto is being given a second chance. It turns out failing and dying the first time around wasn't totally his fault. The powers that be help him out a little bit. So this time around he's snatching control of his life and is hoping to turn everything around. This is going to be quite AU and many characters will be OOC. Strong Naruto, not god like but many villains are going to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Sorry my bad**

**Disclaimer:** You know before writing this I was forced to come to terms with the fact that I don't and will probably never own Naruto. I was frozen for a moment actually in shock. In mind's eye I saw the money, fame and of course the pretty girls I could have had fall apart when I realized I would be getting none of them. Anyway I'm consoling myself with the fact that though Masashi may own Naruto and anything else he came up with and put into the series before I began writing this fanfic I own whatever plotlines, techniques, OCs, yada … yada I put into this fanfic.

_**Demonic/boss thoughts**_

**Demonic/boss speech**

_Normal thoughts_

Normal speech

**Chapter One: Sorry, my bad**

The Shinigami sat at his desk looking at the piles of paperwork before him. The line files and papers stretched so far that to those with normal human eyesight it would appear as a horizon of paper work. He looked at the load before him and groaned. "_Who would have known that the so called child of prophecy's failure would have such consequences? It was to be expected that the boy's death and subsequent failure would have an impact on the fate of his world. That was the major reason that when the Juubi destroyed the boy's continent after the boy's death he hadn't been too surprised even though the resulting volume of paperwork had shocked him a bit. Then the ten times damned creature begun dimension hopping destroying everything in its path"._

He was at this time staring at the paperwork from the Juubi's current exploits. With so many souls to process and put in proper afterlives there was no wonder that he was currently swamped. More paperwork appeared to add to the already large mess of papers and files. He cursed loudly. Apparently the Juubi was still keeping busy as it waited for the Kyuubi to reform so that it could absorb it.**(1) **Hoori **(2) **and a few of the younger gods were trying to clamor up support and permission so that they could hunt down the creature before it reabsorbed the Kyuubi and became an even bigger threat. To be honest he felt like joining them even if only to cause some pain to the creature responsible for his current headache.

To speak of headaches he didn't quite understand how the boy failed so miserably. How had the boy keeled over in battle? He was confused. The boy was by all rights supposed to be powerful and smart his heritage assured that. And the few reports he had had before this current mess had all talked of the boy's power and strength. He summoned the boy's file to him. It was about time he got to it anyway. After all being left on the waiting list for seven years should be about enough punishment, especially if you take into account the fact that the boy had been left to wait without hope of moving on or getting free, left in a cold dreamless endless space that your senses told you was empty, feeling cold and lonely. Seriously people should know better than to piss off the god of the dead. He literally controlled your life, after death that is.

The file of Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto appeared on his desk and he picked it up to go through. He remembered when he first met the boy which was only a couple of hours after the brat had been born. He had to admit that Shiki fuin was just about one of the greatest pieces of human seal work he had ever seen. A seal so powerful it actually required divine power to function properly.**(3) **The Uzumaki did very good seal work. That was why he had a lot of them doing jobs for him all over the underworld. He was even a friend of the maker of this particular seal which was why it sort of functioned as a summons for him as it need divine power to be complete.

He had no doubt that the seal was majorly responsible for most of the boy's power. He growled angrily as he opened the boy's file. _He had made the boy into a powerhouse and still he had failed. _This train of thought stopped immediately when he took note of the boy's seal. The boy's seal was not the Shiki Fuin. _Oh no! _Was his first thought. What the boy had was a mockery of the true seal. With every second the Shinigami looked at the seal new flaws and mistakes popped up. Someone had screwed up badly and every glance on the sheet told him that it was him. The first problems he noticed were the filters in the seal or the lack of them. The original seal was designed to have built in filters to properly process the youkai and introduce it into the boy's body in a more stable less harmful form using his divine energy. The seal Naruto had allowed the kyuubi's youkai to seep into the boy's chakra system but it did nothing to filter the foreign energy. There wasn't even any divine energy to help purify the youkai and make it more powerful as was the original intention. The Shinigami shuddered when he taught of the effects of raw youki running rampant in a child's body.

Secondly all seals meant to hold Biju or any other demon for that matter had a small bit of it that allowed the host access to some of their prisoner's abilities. This was because most jinchuriki were supposed to be weapons or in more fortunate cases protectors. Naruto had nothing like that. Lucky for him the youki had helped boost his natural Uzumaki stamina, healing and longevity. _So, piss poor filter's and no biju derived abilities. What else?_ He asked even though he was afraid to know.

He studied another part of the seal and sighed when he noticed that part was pretty much nonexistent. Most jinchuriki had problems controlling their powers when under emotional duress. This allowed their powers and to an extent the biju controlling them to control them instead. The original Shiki Fuin allowed the host to separate his emotions from his powers and his biju preventing him from going out of control when emotionally disturbed. It also prevented the biju from influencing his host's emotions. All in all the seal eliminated one of the major problems of being a junchurikki. Not being influenced by the biju would allow the host to have greater control over the power he obtained and prevented them from giving control to the darker creatures within him. Without that part of the seal he could only imagine how the kyuubi's negative emotions had no doubt taken control of the boy whenever he used the powers of the accursed beast.

As if this wasn't bad enough he had put the wrong half of the kyuubi into the kid. He was supposed to put the yin part of the beast into Naruto. This was because majority of the creature's darker, rasher, more aggressive nature was centered around its yang half.**(4)** Granted, the kyuubi had the most of the juubi's negative emotions and as such its yang was more than its yin making the yin the less powerful portion, however this was to be done in order to give the boy greater access to the beast's spiritual abilities as well as greater control over the power at his disposal. This should have increased the boy's sensory perceptions especially where emotions and chakra were concerned. It would have also allowed him to access to beast's kitsune powers of shape shifting and illusions. Thankfully it appeared the boy had managed just fine with the yang part. In fact he'd even made use of the greater destructive capabilities the yang half left at his disposal.**(5)**

Looking over the boy's file he noticed that the boy had had poor mental faculties which should not be so given his lineage. It also appeared that the lower mental skills had made the boy unable to learn fuinjutsu to the disappointment of his mentor and ancestors. He'd also had terrible chakra control. The shinigami became very dismayed when he realized that all these problems were as a result of the poor filtering of the kyuubi's youki. This caustic energy had damaged the boy's chakra system just like he'd known it would. Amazingly the boy's youkai enhanced regeneration had allowed him to adapt to the energy and even become used to it to a disturbing extent. This had saved the boy's life by protecting this muscles and organs. Unfortunately the same could not be said about the boy's chakra system. Because of their delicate nature and the fact that they were the entry point for the kyuubi's youki to enter the boy they had been severely damaged. It was actually amazing the boys was able to use chakra at all. Sadly not all the vessels were saved as a few very severely damaged whilst some had constrictions and kinks with other's being too wide. This in addition to his large reserves was the true reason why no matter how hard the boy tried his chakra control was always poor.**(6) **Some of the damaged ones included some of the chakra vessels which greatly reduced the chakra flow leading to his brain resulting in his poor intelligence. Ironically the boy was able to access some of his brain power when in combat or dangerous situations both of which increased the chakra flow in the body and brain. This had allowed him to instinctively come up with astounding strategies on the field of battle.**(7)**

In addition to this, the youki had also corrupted the boy's chakra overwriting it and giving it a powerful one natured wind element. This prevented the boy from accessing and chakra natures or traits that he would otherwise have inherited due to his ancestry like his mother's chakra chains.

Pretty soon the Shinigami came to one conclusion. He'd fucked up royally. In truth he hadn't really paid attention when he was making the seal on the young boy. Lack of attention always boded ill for seal work and he had just seen the ill he had inadvertently caused. Truth be told he had actually been about to engage in certain activities with his wife when he had been summoned. Initially he'd planned to smite the hell out of whoever had summoned him but see the situation he couldn't blame them. He had then proceeded to rush through the process without really looking at what he was doing. All so that he could rush back to bed with his wife. A terrifying woman who was currently reading over his shoulder. He let out a huge sigh before turning round to face her. _Might as well get it over with. _He thought to himself.

Surprisingly the Shinigami's wife only admonished him for not paying attention to his job. She then then gave him a bit of advice on how to resolve the mess. Advice he was going to take. He quickly went to one of his courtyards to begin his preparations. He begun by summoning Naruto's soul and then he called up the Kyuubi's. They appeared as floating essences beside him even as he called forth power for the spell he was going to cast. He stood there reveling in the power his realm provided him with. The energies called up begun to swirl around him creating a sort of mist to those who watched. The swirling mass of barely controlled power moved through the air with the sound of at least a thousand shrieking sou.

The Shinigami watched the power gather itself and smiled. He was in reality one of the only gods with enough power to try the risky gamble he was playing. He kept the power condensed and highly compact to fuel what he was doing. The unfortunate thing was with the amount of power it took to work and the unique nature of his abilities he might as well be shouting "Hey come here. It's me shinigame and I'm using a forbidden technique which will turn back time". He pictured the boy's world in his mind and watched as his surroundings changed to resemble the boy's home village. The place was a mess. They had never finished repairing it from the damage it suffered during Pein's attack before they left to fight in the war. The power he'd gathered hung in the air still cracking with visible intensity as he watched the survivors walk in the crushed village going about their duties.

This was actually four days before the Juubi finally destroyed the continent and allowed the remains to sink to the depths of the ocean. He looked at a mother as she walked right by him carrying a child in her arms. She walked by unable to see him because though he stood there looking in on them he wasn't really there. He was in fact just outside their space-time continuum. He waved a hand to the right and the power that hung in the air spun around him in a manner similar to a Hyuuga's kaiten. The air around was charged with his godly power and the village began to change around him as he went further back in time. Soon he'd gone so far back that the mother from before that he'd met earlier once again passed him by. This time however instead of a young mother facing a dying world she was a young happy young lady laughing with her friends.

Seeing as he should be in the right time. He turned his attention to the two floating souls beside him. Concentrating slightly he caused the two souls to form a link of some sort and floated it closer to himself. Using the weird pulsing linked souls as a sample the shinigami stretched his senses out and found what he was searching for. The village around him flickered and he found himself in the midst of a forest watching and interesting scene. Right before him was Uzumaki Naruto and this was the night he found out about the not long after failing his genin test. He watched as Naruto saved his teacher Iruka from his other traitorous sensei. Eventually he got to part where Naruto went to bed happily thinking of how he' d finally passed the genin test and with an A-ranked jutsu to boot.

Observing the boy as he slept peacefully the Shinigami decided that this was good enough save point. Detaching the bright blue soul from the red one he swiftly bound it to that of the much younger Naruto in front of him and watched carefully making sure that it was the younger soul that absorbed the older one and not the other way around. After this he stepped back to watch the boy. Looking down on the boy and thinking of how bad the boy's life had been and how it was only going to get worse he could not help but pity the poor boy. He waved his hand again and for a second time his energies bathed him and his surroundings and they spun around and took him back through time.

This time he watched as a struggling Minato tried to seal the Kyuubi with his dying wife at his side. He watched as another version of himself appeared, summoned by the Namikaze. The other version who was filled with the haste and urgency stopped and glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. The unasked question was no doubt, "What am I doing over there?"

He looked at his other self from the current timeline and said to him, "Go! I'll handle the rest." His past self looked as if he was going to ask a question but. However he caught himself and said instead, "What a pain. I guess I'll find out anyway". The shinigami smiled as watched his past self. Then remembering what that version of him would soon be doing he got an idea. "Conjure a rain of black roses as you do it." His past self raised his eyebrows again nonetheless he smiled and said, "It should make things interesting if I manage to get rid of the thorns".

He chuckled and gave himself a wave as his past self simply faded away. The chuckles ended when the Shinigami decided to finish the sealing quickly before the Kyuubi broke free. Imagine his surprise when he realized that the Kyuubi had been silent the entire time he'd been there. Turning to look at the biijuu he found the bijuu staring at him with a grin on its face. "_Not creepy at all"_ he assured himself. "_I am the death god. I'm much scarier"._ Taking his mind of the Kyuubi, who was still imitating the Cheshire cat, he turned back to the work before him.

Pretty soon his work was done and the seal was finished. After checking for the tenth time that he used the proper seal this time he stepped into it. He appeared in a large hallway where he was pleased to note that there was no flood. The pipes were all in good shaped and there was no water on the floor. As a matter of fact the place wasn't even a sewer. Patting himself on the back for a job well done he proceeded to the boy's nexus. Before long he found himself in front of a solid steel wall with no apparent entrance. _"Interesting", _he noted_. "The boy's core is completely sealed off"._ Thankfully that did not matter to him which he proved by simply walked through the wall. He arrived at the boy's core which was unsurprisingly empty. The boy's life had just begun and thus it was only natural that there was nothing here to see. However with his godly senses he notice the one thing in the chamber apart from himself, the grief and confusion of young boy who had lost his parents.

This surprised him because it meant that the boy had a heightened sense of awareness far beyond his age. He observed for a few moments more and was even more astounded. It was even possible that when fully developed this sense would far surpass that of a normal human. Was this one of the things his seal messed up? He wondered. He shook his head figuratively and went about what he came here to do. Slowly he planted a message in the boy's core. A message from him that would only be accessible when the soul merge in the future took place. The message was there to guide the boy when he begun to remember things from his past life. This would hopefully prevent the boy from thinking he was crazy as well as controlled the flow of memories he received. It would also guide him as to what the memories meant and help him change his future in a positive way.

He was doing this for a reason, the same reason the soul merge was going to take place thirteen years from now. One reason was to make sure the boy was a bit mature before he was made to realize that the fate of the world rested in his hands. Another reason was because in his past life the boy was an idiot. He had no doubts that if he merged the souls now there would soon be a toddler running around using the rasengan. With any luck the changes in the seal would allow the boy to mature beyond the age of ten before the soul merge. This is because humans mature quickly when faced with adversity. But for some strange reason, like a busted seal that inhibited a person's mind, the boy had never really grown up. This way he'd be better prepared for what was to come.

Another reason for doing this was because as a child the boy had been the subject of numerous visits to the Yamanaka's. These "checkups" were done to assure the council that the Kyuubi was not taking over the boy. He wondered briefly why they never noticed the problem with the boy's mind. He supposed they didn't care. After all it even made the boy more malleable for their goals. He was simply doing this to ensure that no Yamanaka would be able to pick up on either the soul merge or the memories that came with it. It would be very bad if anyone in Konoha discovered that the boy had future knowledge. This is why the soul merge would be happening after the boy became a ninja. That way it would be harder for them to get the boy to attend these checkups because not only would the message would advise against it but the boy could also decide not to go and as a ninja they would be unable to force him to.

Giving his work a once over he decide to leave. He stepped out of the boy's nexus and bade himself exit from the seal only to find out he was being summoned. He growled in annoyance and departed to the location of whoever was calling at such a time. He appeared in a giant cavern like room.

The place was very dark and he could barely see the other side of the room. He could however sense a great demonic presence beckoning to him. Now curious he drew closer so as to find out who was calling him. After a few steps he found himself in front of giant bars in the form of a cage wit a large man-sized piece of paper acting as the lock. Recognizing his work the Shinigami became worried. He became even more so when he noticed a large pair of red eyes glaring at him.

"We need to talk", the Kyuubi said as it walked to the front of its cage.

**Author's Rants:**

(Should say notes but I had my brother proofread this and he claimed they were rants not notes. I hate it when he's right)

**1.**The biju are creatures made from the Juubi's chakra and soul and as such they can't die. You literally can't kill energy. They'll simply reform or revive after a while.

**2.**Hoori is the Japanese god of hunting.

**3.**Canon makes it clear to us that the very act of performing the jutsu required to make the seal summons the death god who then grabs the target and performs the real seal. This means that no one knows the seal itself. There is no drawing, writing or marking involved. That means that the fourth isn't really the inventor of the Shiki fuin. He maybe the person to invent the jutsu that summons the death god but not the seal itself. So I took the liberty of making the seal an invention of an Uzumaki soul who serves the Shinigami because according to canon they are the human gods of fuinjutsu.

**4.**When taking into consideration the Taoist principles of yin and yang, yang is characterized as fast, hard(as in stubborn), focused (as in narrow minded), hot, dry, aggressive, physical, destructive, sunny(as in personality) and is associated with fire, sky, the sun and masculinity. (Yeah I don't really think Naruto really needs an overload of this. Come on it's no wonder he's hyper. He's imbalanced because of all that extra yang chakra). Ying however is slow, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, calm, passive, spiritual and is associated with water, earth, healing, the moon, feminity and nighttime. (I think he needs more these don't you).

**5.**Kitsune are supposed to be creatures of guile, using the trickery to defeat or outwit their opponents. They possess great amounts of magical or spiritual power but rely first and foremost on their powers of transformation, illusions, and smarts to trick their opponents. This is why I find it hard believing that the Kyuubi no Kitsune is all kill, kill, destroy, rip them apart. I'd prefer him to be a beefed up version of a true kitsune. And by beefed up I mean a kitsune with saiyan level reserves in all areas.

**6.**Face it Naruto's chakra control has always sucked no matter what he did. It is so bad that the excuse that he has too much chakra to control properly just doesn't cut it anymore. You can't say it's 'cause he's got loads. He's only got half the Kyuubi making that at most four and half tails worth of power. All the other jinchuuriki have much better control than he has especially Killer Bee who has a whooping eight full tails of power. Even his mother had the full biju and yet was reportedly capable of feats of chakra control such creating chain out of the chakra. As such I had to come up with another reason since Masashi wouldn't.

**7.**I've always wondered how Masashi justified the fact that Naruto's brain doesn't function outside of battle. Somehow he's created a character who can only think logically and strategically when in battle but has neither common sense or any sense or brains for that matter in any other aspects of his life. Truth is he didn't I am.

**8.**Canon tells us that chakra traits and natures are inherited. This is why people from the same clan have the same chakra natures e.g. The Uchiha and Sarutobi have fire natured chakra whilst the Hatake guys have lightning. That is why certain clans have chakra based bloodline limits like the Terumi, that Haku character and Juugo. If the Kyuubi's chakra really corrupted Naruto and Sai's like it says in the anime then it stands to reason that there may have been traits that were lost.

**9.**I actually had a dream once where this happened (hey I'm a horny teenager in between girlfriends at the moment). Unfortunately unlike our wise and no doubt more experienced Shinigami I only noticed the thorns when we flipped over and I found myself with rose thorns pricking my back.

**10.**This bit is very true. Children who are forced to take care of themselves at an early age basically end up more independent, self-reliant individuals much more mature than their ages. This especially true for orphans who have to take care of themselves. Most of them end up focused, driven individuals in order to get by. Now take this and apply it to Naruto who somehow never grew beyond the age of ten(mentally at least) and then tell me he is not stunted.

**11.**Canon says nothing about this but hey it's only logical. If you had the power, you'd want to make sure that your demon jar was stable and that it doesn't crack and the demon lose on the village, wouldn't you?

**COME ON GUYS! REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I am VERY sorry about not updating for such a long time. (For the most part, COME ON GUYS ALL I NEEDED WAS FIVE REVIEWS JUST FIVE. MY MUSE NEARLY DIED WHILST WE WAITED).**Truth is **(THE REAL TRUTH)** I broke my laptop's screen a few days after the Chapter two was completed and had to get it fixed without my parents knowing.

My little brother managed to crash it earlier and so I had to beg my mum to get it fixed for me. She did it. That was same week I posted the first chapter, wrote the second and broke the screen. Not wanting a lecture I saved my allowance and got the screen replaced discretely. Throughout that time I couldn't write because;

**1.I did not have a computer**

**2.I did not feel like writing a new chapter two**

**3.My little brother was given my mum's old laptop and refused to share with me. Can you believe that? The little brat who crashed mine refused to let me near his. At least he kept the fact that I broke the screen of mine secret. **

**4.I chose to while away the time till I got my laptop back reading more fanfics, thinking up new ideas and checking to see if I had finally got FIVE REVIEWS. BIG THANKS to all those who actually reviewed, favorite or followed this story.**

**To Shadowzerox:**

**Your Question:** Are you going to make hints to the village also having a hand in this?  
I know you trying to hint to the Shinigami screwing up the sealing, but towards the end you had him worry about the council. It sounds like he knew they were doing checkups and they seemed to ignore other problems.**  
Answer: **Again I am sorry I haven't answered you question till now. It is just that this way I can clear up the minds anyone else who has this train of thought. I cannot say much but know that the village did not help the situation much and even made it worse in some cases. As for the council expect some action from them. In this fic, they are going to be a group of individuals not only used to getting their own way but they are also the ones who control most of what goes on in the village. What I'll say is this; expect them to be much more cunning and manipulative in this fic that in most others.

**NOW ON WITH THE STORY.**

**Chapter Two: Deals with a Fox**

**Recap:**

_Giving his work a once over he decide to leave. He stepped out of the boy's nexus and bade himself exit from the seal only to find out he was being summoned. He growled in annoyance and departed to the location of whoever was calling at such a time. He appeared in a giant cavern like room._

_The place was very dark and he could barely see the other side of the room. He could however sense a great demonic presence beckoning to him. Now curious he drew closer so as to find out who was calling him. After a few steps he found himself in front of giant bars in the form of a cage with a large man-sized piece of paper acting as the lock. Recognizing his work the Shinigami became worried. He became even more so when he noticed a large pair of red eyes glaring at him._

"_We need to talk", the Kyuubi said as it walked to the front of its cage._

**Chapter Two: Deals With A Fox**

"Why?" the Shinigami asked.

The Kyuubi merely smiled. The creepy grin on his face showed of more than his sharp teeth. It also told the Shinigami that something was up. The very way the fox's eyes sparkled showed that a major play was afoot.

"Ah! Shinigami-sama! Do not be like that", the Kyuubi said playfully, the shit eating grin never leaving his face. "I just wanted to give you a little information about biju so that you can take it up for the next meeting of the gods up in the heavens".

The Shinigami was now sure that something more was afoot. He just had to get the damned fox to spill it. Whatever it was he'd better get it over with quickly. He'd expended a lot of power and was beginning to feel the loss. He wanted to get home quickly so he could sit down.

"What is this information?" the Shinigami asked bluntly.

The Kyuubi's grin seemed to widen a touch. "Well…" he began. "Despite the fact that you gods refuse to acknowledge us as such, we biju are true immortals". The Shinigami nodded. Most of the younger gods refused to acknowledge the biju as immortals or even as demon lords instead of just demonic creatures just because they were pieces of the Juubi that had somehow developed consciousness. They acknowledge the Juubi as an immortal Demon King on par with least a low-tier god of the middle class but refused to accord the biju any such honor because they felt that the biju were not really creatures on their own as they were bits of the Juubi's soul and power. The Shinigami however thought this belief was dumb for the reason that some of the gods were formed in similar ways. Susano-o for example was pretty much formed from Izanagi's snot and his siblings from similar waste materials.

"As immortal creatures we possess powers and skills far above the range of the mindless demonic beasts you refer to us as. Make no mistake, we are truly immortal and that is why we cannot die no matter what injury or end we face", the Kyuubi continued to explain.

"Get to the point", the Shinigami interrupted. This was the major reason why he hated dealing with kitsune. They loved to talk a lot. The annoying part was the fact that despite all they said they never really said anything important hoping to stall for time or wear down the listener so that he was either distracted or confused enough so that they could get away with whatever they were doing at the time. It was also a bargaining tactic to allow the other party to lose track of the conversation and end up agreeing to something he'd never have had he been attentive.

The Kyuubi gave his widest grin yet. The perpetual grin was begin to freak the Shinigami out since he didn't believe there was any reason for the beast to be so happy especially since he'd just been locked away with no clear details on when or how he'd be getting out.

"As the god of death you are aware of how we revive ourselves when we damaged beyond simple regeneration". The Shinigami nodded unsure as to whether it was a statement or a question. The Kyuubi decided to explain anyway, "When we 'die' what actually happens is that we have received too much damage to hold our forms. Because of this we disperse. We revive ourselves by slowly drawing ourselves back together. We can sense all our pieces because they are always part of us and never break away.** (1)** We then pull all the pieces of our souls or energy from wherever they might be and rebuild ourselves". The Shinigami nodded for he knew this already but he sensed the Kyuubi was coming down to the point of the conversation and did not interrupt.

"Thus we never truly die", the Kyuubi said. "Since we never truly die we never pass through the realm of death and do not even require your services esteemed and professional though they are. In fact, the only reason I appeared in your realm the last time was because my soul had been tied to that of my container and so when he died and passed into your realm I was forced to follow. After all it was a tie you had made and thus only you could break it".

The Shinigami followed what the Kyuubi was saying closely knowing there was a point to it. Suddenly a thought struck him. How did the Kyuubi know that his host died and dragged him to the realm of the dead by virtue of the seal he'd made? That hadn't happened yet. Swiftly he twisted himself and banished the soul that was still hanging at his side; the Kyuubi's soul from the future.

He turned to gaze at the Kyuubi his eyes flashing with anger that was directed mostly at himself for being had. He'd known that the damned kitsune was stalling but he hadn't thought it was because of this. The tailed beast was grinning so hard it threatened to split his face. He immediately turned away so as to deny the fox the pleasure of seeing him flustered. His mind quickly began calculating.

"When did you first sense it?" he asked the Kyuubi. He could sense the glee in its voice when it answered him.

"From the very moment you entered this time carrying it with you".

The Shinigami started crunching the numbers to see the scope of the current situation and to see how much of it could be salvaged. Unfortunately he didn't have most of the variables and was forced to work based on guess work and intuition. The Kyuubi quickly cleared it up for him.

"At first I wasn't sure but when I checked. My! You can only imagine how surprised I was by what I saw".

The Shinigami's heart sank. The Kyuubi had just confirmed that he could obtain information using the link he had with all his pieces that were separate from him. This was probably true for anything that carried his life force or energy signature. If thing were as bad as he thought then this was probably catastrophic. "How much do you know?" he asked the biju.

"EVERYTHING!" The Kyuubi screamed yelled part in rage and partly in glee at gaining one over on the god of death. The said god finally turned back to face him knowing that there was only one thing he could do; Damage Control.

"So what now?" he inquired tiredly.

"So what now he says", the Kyuubi growled. "HOW MUCH DUMBER CAN YOU BE?" It yelled. The Shinigami immediately took offence.

"Watch your tone Demon, you forget you place!" he hissed.

"No you have forgotten old one." The Kyuubi told him. "You made a mistake and it cost this world. You then tried to make amends. I understand that bit. What I don't get is the fact that you just threw on a patch and decided it was enough. You were about to skip out before anyone noticed and put any blame on you". The Shinigami was forced to concede this even though he'd again lost track of where the conversation was leading again.

"_Damned kitsune"_, he thought to himself.

"What I do not get is the fact that you were about to skip out without even checking to see if the patch would be sufficient to correct the initial problem", the Kyuubi admonished.

The Shinigami's blood run cold (well colder) he thought of the all the things that could go wrong if what he'd done did not fix the problem. It was even possible that it would lead to a problem much worse than the one he was trying to fix. He turned his attention back to the Kyuubi anxiously, "What do you mean?"

The Kyuubi looked down on him with a sage like expression that looked strange on his face. "You have ensured that the boy's mind remains safe and uncorrupted by my chakra. You have even made sure his chakra vessels are better protected but you forget that with more chakra vessels this time around he'd also have more of my chakra in his system this time around". Here it paused to see if he understood. This only served to scare the Shinigami even more. The kitsune was going out its way to make sure he kept track of the conversation instead of doing the opposite. Whatever he was on about had to be very bad.

Thinking about what the Kyuubi had just raised he spoke softly, "More youki shouldn't be a problem this time around. The filters should do their job this time. That is what will protect him and his vessels this time".

"YOU IDIOT!" the Kyuubi screamed at him. "THIS ISN'T ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF CHAKRA FLOWING THROUGH HIM. IT IS ABOUT THE KIND OF CHAKRA". The Shinigami was now confused.

"I don't follow", he said eventually after a moment's thought.

The Kyuubi seemed to lose its remaining patience in front of him before screaming, "YOU ONLY SEALED ONE KIND OF MY CHAKRA IN HIM YOU IDIOT".

The Shinigami thinking he'd figured it out yelled, "IS THIS WHAT THIS IS ABOUT? YOU WANT THE YIN HALF OF YOUR CHAKRA BACK, DON'T YOU? WELL YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT IT". The Kyuubi looked shocked for a moment and was about to yell again.

It realized that the shouting wasn't getting him anywhere and calmed itself before speaking, "You don't seem to comprehend what is going on. Please calm down and allow me to explain it to you". The Shinigami looked at him distrustfully for a second before complying. The Kyuubi then begun to explain, "The last time the boy's mind was stunted to say the least. He could barely understand anything in front of him and couldn't even feel strong emotions". The Shinigami nodded slowly all the while wondering how they had gotten back to this. "Consider for an instant the effect of intensely charged and concentrated yang chakra on a perfectly rational mind", the Kyuubi said to him.

The Shinigami thought about it slowly fully aware of the Kyuubi's eyes on him as he did so. All life was made of two contrasting yet complementary sides; the yin and the yang. They provided the balance in the individual. Add more yin to become much calmer, more diffuse (think scatter brained or absentminded in this case) he'd even grow more aligned to the qualities of the earth, water, the moon and healing. He'd even grow more feminine. Add more yang and the opposite would happen. But that was forbidden because of the side effects. All being are born with a perfect balance of all the qualities of yin and yang. It is the side they favour as they develop that determines their distinguishing characteristics. A person favouring the yin side would probably be calmer and more suited to healing whilst a person who favours his yang side would probably be more aggressive and more suited to battle and destruction. However no matter the side the person favors there will always be part of the other side present. The yin favouring person could be more in tune with fire which is associated with the yang whilst the yang favouring person could be more in tune with water which is associated with the yin.**(2) **Despite the person favouring one side over than the other the amounts of both remain balanced within the person. The only thing different is the side the person uses more. Any less or more of one or the other would cause an imbalance which could lead to problems with the persons mind and psyche.

Gradually the full range of things began to dawn on the Shinigami. The problem had to do with an imbalance. Before the boy's mind was so damaged that an increase in either factor would not have mattered because the brain was too damaged for the effects to be felt. Conversely the boy's mind was now repaired and if the Kyuubi's intense yang chakra was to trickle constantly into his brain. The vast near inexhaustible supply of chakra the Kyuubi had was going to make a circuit through the boy's brain. The Shinigami was unable to continue with this train of thought because his heart had begun to skip beats. It was indeed a much greater problem than before. It couldn't even be called catastrophic. At the very least they would be looking at insanity. **(3)** The boy's mind could also crack and he'd end up cackling and running around slaughtering any living thing he met. The Shinigami quickly shook that image from his head and instead tried to focus on how to right this new wrong. He couldn't even believe he'd missed a problem such as this. He should have known better. Then he remembered what had happened during the sealing that night.

The boy's father had asked him to seal the Kyuubi's yin into his son hoping it would grant him not only the spiritual powers of the kitsune but also afford him greater control of the beast and its powers.** (4) **He should have known better. No wonder the Kyuubi had admonished him for not knowing his place. How could he the death god himself go about listening to and enacting the whims of a common mortal human when his own godly knowledge and powers should have told him otherwise? Granted he'd been in so much of a hurry then he hadn't cared and had even bungled that part up and put the yang instead of the yin into the boy. That brought him to another problem he'd gone ahead and put the yang half into the infant just because he found out that the boy had made great use of the destructive powers of the yang during his lifetime. This meant he had willfully voided a contract. He squashed that thought immediately.

He glanced up to look the Kyuubi in the eye. "So where do we go from here?" he asked tentatively.

The Kyuubi looked down at him and said simply, "You can start by restoring my yin half back to me".

The Shinigami looked at him and said sadly, "I am sorry. The contractor made it clear that I was to seal only half of you into the boy".

The Kyuubi eyes became overwrought and said pleadingly, "Please! I have seen what is to come. You are thinking of the boy and thus have already forgotten that I am a biju". The Shinigami cocked his head to the side slowly, unable to see the significance of this luckily the Kyuubi plowed onward as he fought to explain. "We are composed of chakra and soul think of what it must have meant for me to live all those years with only half my mind and self".

The Shinigami immediately got the picture. He could only imagine what it must have been for the Kyuubi to live in a cold dank sewer with murky water covering the floor, unable to escape no matter how hard he tried even as he slowly lost his mind due to the loss of his yin half.**(5)** The Kyuubi continued to plead, "Please help out Shinigami-sama. After all the entire contract is void anyway".

The Shinigami looked up sharply, "How do you…?"

The Kyuubi interrupted, "What? It is not that hard to figure out. I was there. The terms of the contract stated that you were to seal my yin half into the boy in exchange for his father's soul. You sealed the yang instead effectively voiding the contract".

The Shinigami was not sure what do anymore. As a god he was supposed to keep his word and contracts or face serious repercussions not only from the council but from life and the universe itself. There was a reason he was a god and the gods had to be trusted to keep their word. The fact that he had not done so was in excusable even if he'd not meant to do so at the start. If he had really wanted to change things and still fall within the rules he should have informed the Yondaime before doing so. It was not necessary for the man to understand what he was doing or the full extent of what he was doing but the man had to know that there were other conditions attached to the deal before he made it.** (6)** It was bad enough that he had slipped up badly twice now but it was even worse that the Kyuubi knew about it. He could call attention to the fact if he so wished and have him arraigned before the council of gods. He faced the Kyuubi with a placating smile on his face and attempted to do what all men in power do after being caught doing something inappropriate; Damage Control. "What can I do to help?"

The Kyuubi grinned at the Shinigami as he caught on to what he was trying to do. "Don't worry about it", he said. "After all the mortal was the one who broke the deal first when he included portions of his and his wife's soul into the seal without informing you". The thankful Shinigami began to recall what happened the last time and smiled. The rules concerning the gods and their deals affected humans as well. They were also to hold up their sides of the bargain. Any mortal found breaking he conditions of a deal better gods effectively gave his soul away to that god to be used in any manner he or she wished. This was even the best of the punishments. Most of the time they were made miserable for the remainder of their lives and after their deaths as well. This meant that breaking the terms of the contract the Shinigami was free to do as he wished to the Yondaime especially regarding the matter of the contract that was broken. The last time he just contented himself with allowing the man to see the folly of his actions regarding his son by letting him see the horrible life his son lived. After all the consequence of even using the Shiki Fuin was to have your soul serve the Death god for all eternity which would have been his punishment anyway.**(7)**

The former Hokage was also lucky in the sense that he soon got a job torturing the very people who tortured his son when they crossed over to the Shinigami's realm. Anyway, it was increasing apparent to the Shinigami that there was a high probability that he would end up in the clear. That was if he could deal with one major problem. Looking the Kyuubi right in the eyes he asked, "So, what is it you want?"

The Kyuubi gave one of his fox grins and said, "Nothing that is not mine by right". The Shinigami's eyebrows rose slowly. "I demand compensation on behalf of myself and the boy". The Shinigami's new hopes plummeted for what seemed like tenth time. This was one of the few things all gods feared. When a god messed up in his work in such a way that it adversely affected a living creature that creature had the right to call for compensation for whatever ill he or she had suffered. The gods in question were not really afraid of the fact that they had to compensate the person they were afraid of the process it involved. The process of claiming compensation is not unlike a law suit. The only difference is in this case the matter is deliberated before a special council consisting of the elder gods and chaired by none other than Kami the Creator himself. The gods actions would by visited and depending on the severity of the case anything the council thought fitting would be awarded to the victims and the god responsible would be punished for his actions and for bringing disgrace on the gods as a whole.

This was going to be doubly true for the Shinigami because he was on the council. Thus not only would he receive punishment for his actions which resulted in the destruction of nearly a score of worlds but also he would be the first elder god to be brought before the council since it was formed. It would surely bring dishonor on the council to have to try one of their own and no doubt put a blemish on the once pure name of the council and himself. He simply couldn't let that happen. "I am sure you have not thought about the matter fully. Surely there is something else you desire apart from bringing my name to ruin", he told the biju. **(8)** The Kyuubi appeared to think for a few minutes. Each second longer the Tailed beast took added a new spark of hope to the Shinigami's pile of wood.

Finally, the beast motioned him closer. The Shinigami stepped forward and waited for the beast to speak. "No!" was the answer. The Shinigami's hopes were dashed again. "But… but… but…" he tried to reason.

"NO!" The Kyuubi reaffirms, "There is nothing I wish for right now apart from compensation for your actions unintentional though they were. However you are right I do not want to ruin your good name. After all one might not know when he needs a favour from a god of death". The Shinigami caught the meaning of the statement but kept quiet and listened, his hopes rising yet again. "Despite this I have needs, the kind of which can only be covered by a route such as compensation but I am willing to forgo the council this time". The Shinigami gave a huge sigh of relief so quiet it was almost inaudible but he knew that the Kyuubi most likely heard it. He thought about the new situation calmly. The Kyuubi was still demanding compensation for both him and the boy but he was willing for them to settle the case quietly without involving the council. He turned to the Kyuubi again his face serious.

"I accept". The Kyuubi grinned again looking pleased with itself.

"Then let us make it into a contract", the Shinigami said.

"Good", the Kyuubi said "Start by giving me my yin half back".

"Don't worry about it we will add that part to the contract as part of your compensation", the Shinigami said smoothly.

"No!" the Kyuubi told him plainly. "My compensation will be something else. You will give me my yin now or there will be no contract".

The Shinigami was infuriated, "What? You cannot be serious".

"Of course I can. Or do you think I have forgotten that you gave my tails away to your wife as a present?" The told him all the while thinking about how his beautiful tails and how they ended up. As if in they remembered they curled up at his side for protection. _"At least the Shinigami's wife and her friends went about proudly as the envy of many clad in fur coats made from what became acknowledged as the finest kitsune fur in all the realm", _ he told himself.

The Shinigami sweat dropped as he recalled that. He nearly even slapped himself when he saw how the Kyuubi's tails caressed each other in comforting manner and the faraway look of pain in the biju's eyes. _"Damn, I can't believe I forgot that those things were semi sentient. I must have been really out of it that day", _he thought to himself. "Sorry about that", he said to the Kyuubi.

The tailed beast looked at him intently as if to see if he was truly being sincere. When it found what it was looking for it nodded. "Let us finish this quickly. I have a few things I need your help on", it said.

They quickly lay down terms and exchange blood in the form of a binding divine contract. After the signing they then began to discuss their plans and how they would enact them. The entire time the Shinigami was thinking to himself. _"I wonder how many gods besides me have gone to such extent to cover up their misdeeds"._

Unknown to him the Shinigami was actually the last god on the Council of Elder Gods to dishonor himself in such a manner. This was proven when all across the cosmos gods started sneezing including every other god on the Council of Elder Gods except the Creator who said and asked himself. _"Who would have thought that when I added that little law about sneezing to the workings of the universe I would be causing so much trouble"? _His musing ended right there because he heard what was unmistakably a sneeze. "Oh!" he exclaimed and quickly checked to see who had had such foresight. "Now that's interesting…"

Fate was pissed, very pissed. She'd just received a rude awakening in the form of a forced summoning. Even worse she had been summoned into a sewer like area with murky water everywhere. She paused and turned around to get a proper look at the place finally recognizing it. The water on the ground was not a bad as she remembered, there was not as much slime on the walls and less damage to the walls but she knew where she was. The place had regressed so much that she had had problems recognizing it at first but she did in fact know the place. She knew where she was. She was in the seal space of one Uzumaki Naruto.

The problem was Uzumaki Naruto was dead, but then again a council had just been scheduled because the Shinigami had apparently turned back time in this sector. She thought quickly. If someone had summoned her here inside the seal then the person was probably in the seal as well. She quickly set of for with a destination in mind. _'Damn Kyuubi is probably just wondering why his stay here has been extended', _she thought to herself but there was a niggling thought at the back of her mind that told her that things were not so simple. After all the Kyuubi did not have the power to drag her here with such force especially now that he had only half his true power.

She appeared in front of the Kyuubi's cage ready to give him a piece of her mind only to freeze gob smacked at the gathering of individuals before her. The Kyuubi stood free of its cage siting on its hind legs with its tails spread out behind him. She prepared to defend herself only to see a crown on its head with the symbol for seal on it. The Kyuubi simply watched her looking smug and proud as it basked in its own aura. Looking for the world like a veritable bastion of power and strength. Fate used her divine abilities to check to see if the seal on its crown was real whilst she backed up slightly.

Her senses informed her that the creature before her was indeed the Kyuubi and that the seal on its head was in fact the Shiki Fuin. She wondered how this was possibly as the last she had looked upon the Kyuubi it was merely a giant, half crazed creature stuck in a cage with no leg room surrounded by the sewers that served as the mindscape of its host not the powerful, regal looking one siting before her.

Her eyes swept around the chamber she was in taking note that the other occupants she had seen when she first entered had not even bothered to move. She looked closely trying to identify them. Her eyes widened in shock right in front of her were Shinigami and Luck herself. The presence that shocked her the most was Lady Luck mother of the **Shichifukujin. ****(9) **This was mainly because she was not one to make an actual appearance unless it was important. She quickly steeled herself for what was sure to come.

"Greetings Fate!" the Kyuubi began. He then turned to the Shinigami and asked, "Where is Susano-o?"

The Shinigami sighed and answered, "So far he has not been found. He has not been seen by beast, man or god in nearly forty years. The atmosphere in the room became heavy and worried. The Shinigami waved his hand in the air as if to disperse its heft. "Do not worry about it", he told them to allay their fears. "From what I have been able to gather, he has merely gone dimension hopping". The Kyuubi frowned knowing that such an act would make him harder to track.

Fate impetuously stepped forward. "Why have you called me here", she asked the Shinigami.

Her answer however came not from him but the Kyuubi surprising her. "You are to answer for your crimes against Uzumaki Naruto", he said simply.

She turned around not sure whether or not to take him seriously. She noticed the Shinigami nod slowly. She quickly turned back to Kyuubi now aware that he was the one running the show so to speak. Instead of worrying herself as to how that came to be she gave him a disarming smile and asked him, "What pray tell are these crimes you speak of?" She was sure to project an air of politeness ignorance and innocence, something she had spent an eternity practicing. That was why she was surprised when instead of being flustered like she expected him to the Kyuubi merely grinned.

The grinning tailed beast leaned forward till its face was only a few yards away from hers and said to her, "Now, now, we both know that is not true". The goddess demeanor faltered for a second before coming back full force but the Kyuubi caught that small slip up and its grin widened. She tried to look affronted.

"What are you trying to say?" she exclaimed trying to save face in front of her colleagues. They were all on the council for goodness sake. She couldn't afford to have her dirty laundry in front of the people responsible for punishing divine misdemeanors not to mention the fact that she was of their number, even if she was not completely sure which ones he was talking about.

The Kyuubi chuckled. "It is funny how you gods all seem to forget that thanks to the sealing process the souls of the biju are entwined with those of their hosts". The assembled gods looked up to him wondering what he was on about. Thankfully he began to elaborate, "The boy may not have possessed the power or senses to tell the divine interferences in his life but I could".

Fate nearly stopped breathing when she realized what he was alluding to. She was surprised to see Lady Luck blush as well. The Shinigami however only gave a short sigh. The Kyuubi turned to Luck and sent one of his tails to drape over her neck comfortingly.

"Do not worry about your part my lady", he said to her, his voice was even surprisingly soothing. "You have nothing to fear. I dare say that without you my host would not have survived as long as he did without your help". Both Shinigami and Luck nodded as if in agreement to the statement. The biju then turned back to Fate with a dark look on his face. "You however", he began. "I cannot even begin to list your crimes against the boy". Fate backed up from the sheer animosity that was prevalent on the beast's face. "What I cannot understand is why. What could have possessed you go to such extents with the boy. What could he possibly have done to you?"

The look on the Kyuubi's face made it clear that he expected an answer and that the answer better be good. Fate nearly tripped over herself in her haste to answer. "It…it…it was not like that". The other listened intently trying to hear her reasons their eyebrows rising. "I never meant to harm the boy I was just trying something out". The atmosphere in the chamber got even thicker as the Kyuubi's killing intent came into play. **(10)**

Despite this his voice was seemingly calm even though the assembled gods could detect the sharp icy layer beneath it. He ignored their startled looks as he adopted her manner of speech and asked, "And what pray tell were you trying out on my post".

The goddess had no idea what to do to save herself. She had known she was at the deep end the moment the Kyuubi revealed he knew all the instances of divine interference in his host's life. Now she was stuck between revealing why she did so and risk angering not only him but the other two elder gods beside him or trying to keep it to herself and have him blowing his top and dragging even more gods into the mix whereupon she would still be forced to reveal why she did it.

"It was mostly a prolonged test". She said quietly. It had been so long since she had been put in the spot in such a manner and she was wholly unsure how to go about it. The deafening silence, killing intent and overall oppressive atmosphere was not helping here either. She realized they were waiting on her and continued. "At first I was bored and had nothing to do so I decided to check on the Child of Prophecy to see what he was up to. Hopefully he would be interesting enough to stall my boredom. He was seven at the time and startlingly he was not what I expected. I saw that annoying, sweet, dumb stunted child shouting and proclaiming that he would be the greatest ninja ever and how nothing would stop him from achieving his dream". She looked up to see the Shinigami looking sheepish as she mentioned the dumb, stunted bit.

She ignored it and continued, "Naturally I was shocked and doubtful as to whether or not he was actually the child of prophecy. Thus I tossed a few setbacks his way to see how he fared. To my surprise he succeeded where others would have failed with combination of luck and determination". Here it was Lady Luck who looked sheepish. Under normal circumstances, she would have seized the opportunity to find out why and tease her divine sister but at the moment she had other things to worry about.

"This brought to mind some questions. Throughout eternity the heroes or chosen ones have been able to accomplish their destinies. They have been unstoppable, their drives to succeed leading them to places other mortals would not dare to tread and still emerge victorious. They battle monstrous beast, whole armies, defy gods even battle themselves, challenging their own limitations and beliefs. Through all this they still continue simply because they know that failure is not an option that they could not fail and let the people whose lives depended on them down. Many have lost their lives doing so others have struggled to win only to keel over after achieving victory and even fewer have achieved victory and survived to enjoy the fruits of it. Looking at this I realized what no one has before. The heroes are able to overcome all their trials and setbacks, well some don't and new heroes have to be found but in the end it is the heroes spirit and will to defy the odds that carry him through to victory. Thus I wanted to determine, how much is too much? How many trials could a hero face before that spirit failed him?"

She looked around noticing that her audience was actually listening intently swept up by her passionate speech. "I made sure his life was never in true danger, well never more so than usual but I did test his spirit. He just bludgeoned through it all, no finesse, no strategy nothing. It was surprising. He kept his word and his dream sacred and tore through what I put before him. Granted they were not really meant to completely destroy him but the way he mindlessly charged on intent on proving himself actually warmed my heart. I truly began to believe in the power of the human race or at least those who had the strength of will to go after what they wanted". She looked at them, her eyes pleading, "You have to believe that it was nothing truly malicious". **(11)**

The others were speechless in the face of this revelation. They could not do or say anything to admonish her. Even the Kyuubi's killing intent had long since vanished as she gave her speech. He turned to face the Shinigami who nodded as they gave a silent pledge not to reveal to her that one of the reasons that the boy in question had done so was because he was to dumb and stubborn to do anything else.

"I…. see…" the Kyuubi finally said, his visage thoughtful as he tried to think of how this new information affected his plans.

"You three are not going to involve the council in this are you?" Fate inquired with a slight quiver in her voice.

"Do not worry about it", the Kyuubi said. "You were called here so that I could make sure that this time around you would not mess with his fate like last time".

Fate looked at the Kyuubi with an incredulous look on her own face. "I cannot make it any easier for him you know", she attempted to clarify.

The Kyuubi gave a grand wave that caused everyone to sweat drop."I am fully aware of that. All I wanted you to do was hand his case over to your sister". At this all the gods had WTF looks on their faces.

"Which one?" Fate asked all the while hoping it was not the one she was thinking of.

The Kyuubi gave one of his signature face splitting grins. "You know full well the one I am talking about". He noticed the look of protest on Fate's face and said quickly. "Now that we have contacted you we cannot be sure you would remain fair and impartial when it comes to matters concerning the boy. And even if you are they will be some who would still question you".

Fate cut him off, "You do realize that what he will go through will make what I did to him seem playful. I doubt he will survive under her care". The other gods simply nodded dumbly in agreement. Fate however continued to rant. "There is a reason why the affairs of heroes were taken out of her hands. Very few of them survived under her care and even fewer succeeded".

Here the Shinigami stepped in, "She is right the person you are asking for cannot possibly be given Naruto's case. We want him to survive and prevent to coming of the Juubi. This would only ensure his death. That woman is much too strict and her methods too severe for us to trust her with such an important case".

The Kyuubi however simply continued to grin. "I know", he said. Then seeing the dumbstruck looks on their faces he proceeded to explain. "This will be the boy's final test. It is through this that we will be sure that the boy truly deserves the power he gains. Plus I like her style. She trips them up makes them work for it and then rewards them when they succeed".

The gods looked at each other and soon realized that they had an inkling of what the Kyuubi had in store. The boy had proved himself the last time but this was going to be a whole new run. He might as well be a different person for all the help he was going to make would ensure that he grew up different. He wanted to make sure that the boy remained pure and deserving instead of someone who got everything he needed and as such did not need to work for anything on his own. **(**Coughs a single guess stating one such person. Come on you'd get a cookie**)**. If he proved himself yet the he would be deserving of all the faith and trust they were putting in him as well as whatever rewards Fate's sister was sure to dish out.

"So what am I going to do?" Fate inquired.

"Well you simply had the case over to your sister and step back. The only thing you would do after is give him a blessing". The Kyuubi told her.

"A blessing?" she probed.

"Yes a blessing. It has been so long since the gods sent a hero out into the world with not but a blessing, a weapon, a cute yet ferocious pet and a little training from a quasi-human species". **(12)** The Kyuubi told them grinning the entire time. The goddesses looked at each other with raised eyebrows before turning to Shinigami hoping for an explanation. The said god merely shrugged as if to say "Don't look at me. You cannot expect me to understand what the darn beast is on about".

If the Kyuubi noticed their confused looks he did nothing but carry on with his chatter. "Luck all I ask from you is that you do not take away the luck you gave the boy the first time around". She nodded resolutely. "The Shinigami and I have already discussed what he would do for the boy". Here the Shinigami nodded as well to show that what the Kyuubi said was true. Fate looked up expectantly. "You…" he said to her. "…already know your task". Then noticing the disappointed look on her face he quickly added, "However if you wish to help even more then you can do something about his mate".

"MATE?" all three gods asked.

"Yeah!" the Kyuubi began. "Did you not notice? The last time around the boy had no romantic interests at all". Fate seemed ready to object but he cut her off, "If you even mention the pink haired girl so help me I will bit you right now". That shut her up quite effectively. "Now as you all know that is not a good way to live a life. So you are permitted to add some spice to his love life. I hear you are quite good at that". The Kyuubi leaned forward to check on the sudden gleam in her eyes. Fearing he may set some kind of match making devil loose he swiftly amended his statement. "Make sure it is nothing too complicated. Just help him find a nice girl that would complement him. No love triangles or tragic love stories just a nice boy meets girl situation". The fire her eyes dimmed somewhat making the Kyuubi glad he had noticed the blaze in time.

"There is no need to worry about that. Tragi love stories are so outdated. Nowadays the hero falls for a girl who is often a childhood friend who he has lost touch with or a great exotic beauty he has to protect. One of the more popular themes is for the big strong hero to have his own harem of beautiful powerful ladies". Fate cried nearly squealing in her excitement. She even did a little twirl and pirouette sequence as she spoke that had her audience sweat dropping.

"Just remember", the Kyuubi told her. "Keep it simple".

She waved her hand absentmindedly to indicate she understood as she stood there her mind churning with ideas. The others watched her for a few moments as she mumbled to herself only to squeal every three or so seconds.

"Since we are all clear on what to do why don't we begin our tasks", the Kyuubi quickly said ending the meeting. The Shinigami promptly disappeared. He had a lot to do and even more to think about. Then remembering the grin the Kyuubi had on his face when he was leaving he knew what to tackle first. _"First check to see if the Kyuubi is related to the Cheshire Kat in any way", he told himself._ Lady Luck merely grabbed the arm of her divine sister and after curtsying to the Kyuubi left with Fate in tow.

**Ah! Author's Rants:**

**1.**I am sure I talked about this in the author's rants at the bottom of the last chapter. This is just a more detailed explanation.

**2.**Again I explained this in the last chapter. You can refer to that if you want to.

**3.**You should know this part. If a person is mentally imbalanced what does that make him? A crazy person that's what. Now imagine the average imbalance only on this scale we have Naruto's yin chakra on one side and his yang chakra as well as the Kyuubi's immense and foolishly potent yang chakra on the other. It is comparable to a chicken's breast feather on one end and a brontosaurus on the other.

**4.**Well there is an explanation on this in the last chapter. You can check it out.

**5.**We have already talked about the effects of an imbalance in a human. Now try to imagine what would happen to a seventy foot tall creature completely composed of the stuff only without a single drop of yin chakra in him. I'm not sure how to paint a picture of this but I can say this. It is not pretty, not pretty at all.

**6.**This is simply an allusion to the tales involving deals made with gods, demons, and eldritch spirits. They cannot go back on their words but they can leave their words open to interpretation and then use that to cheat their victims. Hey we have some negative reinforcement to make sure they don't break the rules and their contracts.

**7.**Think about it. If the gods get punished for breaking their contracts then what do you think is going to happen to humans who do so?

**8.**Like just about any other ancient royal family the Japanese Imperial family is believed to be descended from the Japanese gods. Amaterasu's grandson to be precise keep in mind that theirs is a society that not that long ago samurai committed **seppuku **or ritual suicide to save face when he dishonored himself, his family or his master. Now imagine what would happen to the people who spawned such a society in such a situation on a hundred times worse. The Shinigami was pretty much screwed at this point.

**9.**This translates to seven lucky gods. It actually shocked me. The Japanese have seven gods pertaining to luck and fortune. It would have been troublesome not to mention tiring to have them all in the scene so I made them siblings and gave them a mom and then threw her in.

**10.**Just so you know Fate hasn't really done anything wrong by herself she is just going to take the blame for most of the times where Masashi screwed Naruto over in the series. Not all of them for he has to take at least some responsibility. It is his series. He is the one making all the money. Anyway I apologize to Fate for using her in such a manner and I hope she understands.

**11.**This speech is mainly about my own views and opinions on heroes. And on this I congratulate Masashi who despite his shortcomings managed to create a character who to me is unmistakably a hero. Well that and the fact that he has got a series that not only earns him money and fame but has also inspired thousands of people like me to muck with.

**12.**If you can guess this reference then thumbs up to you or would you prefer a toffee instead.

**Omake: It Never Happened**

A little blonde child lay in cradle in the Sarutobi mansion watched by four anbu guards. Light from a nearby window suddenly stretched out to bathe the baby in soft, swirling, soothing lights. The child slowly rose from his cradle to hang suspended in the air. The anbu guards however could not see this. They remained in their posts completely frozen and were thus unable to see what was happened. They were stuck in a form of suspended animation. In fact everyone in the house was under suspended animation.

The baby was clad in swaddling clothes. Its distinguishing figures included three whisker marks on each cheek and bright deep blue eyes which were currently open. The child made happy baby noises as it twirled in the air. Slowly three figures came through the window. They were tiny with bright fairy wings. The first flew up to the babies face revealing it to be a tiny woman dressed in a bright blue gown. She looked down at the baby boy and smiled her tiny shimmering wings fluttering.

"They say Luck is a fickle thing but they will be unable to say the same about yours. I give you my blessing little one. May it cloak you throughout your days and serve to make you even more astonishing". After saying this she twirled a stick that happened to be in her hand and from its star shaped head many little blue sparks rained down on the child. It giggled. The tiny woman kissed the babe on his forehead and gave way for the second of their number to take her place.

The second revealed herself to be woman just as tiny as the one before her. Only this one was dressed in a soft pink gown. She flew up to the baby he wings leaving tiny pink motes in her wake. "I may no longer be in charge of your fate but I can tell you this. Your presence shall be great and powerful drawing all sorts of foes and allies to you. Thus I give you my blessing. May it help you to distinguish friend from foe, lover from enemy and protect you from those who would wish to gain your trust only to betray you in the end. May you find true love and enjoy its full benefits". After saying this she too twirled a stick in her hand and tiny motes of pink light rained down on the child. She then gave him a kiss on the cheek and gave way for the last of their number.

The third and last person was revealed to be a tiny little man outfitted in a regal looking green robe. This one however did not have wings. He kept afloat by standing on dark platform that seemed to be made from actual souls. His hands rested on a cane with small skull as its head. The platform carried him to the boy where he said, "My gift to you is a lot more complicated. So I will tell you this grow strong. You will be facing a lot of enemies in the future so be sure to grow strong because soon I will be coming for you. When I do you had better be ready because then your training would begin". Then as more of a formality than anything else he raised his cane and shook it over the baby. A fine black and green colored mist sprayed out of the skull's newly opened mouth to cover the baby. The child being only a baby was more concerned about the rattling of the teeth inside the skull than the weird things happened to it.

Slowly the three tiny people went back the way they came. However if one were to listen hard enough one would hear the green robed man asking the others, "How the hell did we allow that damn kitsune to convince us to do this again?"

Once they were gone the baby was lowered softly back into its cradle. Then the weird light retreated back through the window. Slowly the creatures in the house begun to stir again as the suspended animation over them was lifted. Ironically as the creatures in the house begun to stir the baby went soft into a deep sleep. Conversely if one were to check under the baby's swaddling clothes they would see the seal on its belly standing out. If any of the people checking had the ability to do so they would here a deep soothing voice singing a lullaby.

**IMPORTANT:**

**Here are a few things I would like to make public knowledge;**

**1.I just completed high school in May and so I probably have more free time than I need at least till I enroll in a University later in the year. Thus I would be happy to spend my time constructively by writing and updating swiftly if you make it worth my while. It is nothing much I would just like some REVIEWS PLEASE! You see my muse thrives on acknowledgement and praise as well as comments directed towards making its work even better (Constructive criticism people). It nearly died when it thought people did not think it was good enough to merit a review or two or FIVE! Please understand.**

**2.The long period of idleness that preceded this post allowed my half crazed mind to cook up many yummy plotlines and ideas a lot of which had nothing to do with the story; The Prince of Uzushiokagure. As such I would be holding a poll to see which of these ideas get developed into actually stories. I am doing this because, two days after posting Chapter one, I already had the first draft of Chapter Two. I had already planned that I would update the story once a week. However the speed with which the next chapter was completed makes me think I can probably fit a story or two onto my plate and still keep up the schedule. That is what the poll is for. This way I can tell which story you would like to read and add that to the plate so to speak. However I will only work on one of the Justice League crossovers not both so keep that in mind.**

**3.Be sure to read the author's rants they are there to provide insights that will help you better understand the story.**

**4.Finally I do not speak Japanese. Thus I will be needing help with things like names for jutsus. If you think you can help me out or you know a good English-Japanese translator then please let me know I would really appreciate it.**

**SO THAT'S A WRAP PEOPLE. READ, ENJOY AND BE SURE TO REVIEW**


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